Sake of Love
by Miranda Crystal-Bearer
Summary: Rated for a woman's worst nightmare. Ken and Kari romance, though not at the beginning.


Sake of Love  
  
  
  
"No! Ben, mother said I'm going straight home!"  
  
"Whatever, girl. See ya."  
  
Hikari Rebecca Kamiya stormed out into the street. The eighteen year old didn't heed the stares she got as she stalked away in her high-heeled sandals. Her plain, scoop-necked, soft pink dress swished at her calves as she walked, leaving the restaurant behind. Her head held high, she stared straight ahead, golden chesnut eyes troubled, sweet rosy lips pursed.  
  
As she headed towards home, a slender figure in the streetlight, she paused, hearing a soft male voice singing. She saw the figure leaning against a lamp-post, head down. Black hair shone blue in the light that flowed like water over him. As she came closer, enchanted, the words of his song hit her.  
  
A Friday night affair  
  
Out in the city heat  
  
Always a party there  
  
Along the sordid street  
  
And it was guaranteed  
  
The place to be was Rocketown  
  
  
  
The drinks were two for one  
  
Inside the crowded bars  
  
The girls would make their run  
  
Out on the boulevard  
  
It was the idol place  
  
We lived the ways of Rocketown  
  
Hang around by the street light  
  
In the heart of the night life  
  
  
  
There came a certain man  
  
A stranger to the crowd  
  
We didn't understand  
  
What he was all about  
  
He walked a different pace  
  
So out of place in Rocketown  
  
  
  
They made a fool of him  
  
They teased him when he'd speak  
  
But when they knocked him down  
  
He'd turn the other cheek  
  
He told me I could find  
  
A life outside of Rocketown  
  
Hang around by the street light  
  
In the heart of the night life  
  
  
  
What was his mission  
  
Where was he going  
  
Why was his heart light always glowing  
  
All I was missing  
  
He stood there holding  
  
What was his secret  
  
Could I know it  
  
  
  
Some didn't like him near  
  
Some laughed and turned away  
  
But me, I longed to hear  
  
All that he had to say  
  
He had a peace of mind  
  
I couldn't find in Rocketown  
  
And when I reached down inside me  
  
I could feel the emptiness  
  
  
  
What was his mission  
  
Where was he going  
  
Why was his heart light always glowing  
  
All I was missing  
  
He stood there holding  
  
What was his secret  
  
Could I know it  
  
  
  
He said it's in the heart  
  
The change that comes to be  
  
He had done his part  
  
The choice was up to me  
  
As we were standing there  
  
He said a prayer for Rocketown  
  
  
  
He walked on silently  
  
And prayed for me  
  
And Rocketown.......  
  
  
  
The boy of about eighteen or nineteen glanced up at her and smiled in recognition. His smoke blue eyes softened as he looked her up and down. "Wow, Rebecca, what a way to dress. Goin' my way?" he teased her in a gentle voice, soft as the night breeze.  
  
"Oh, Ken," she lightly scolded. Ken was her best friend of several years. Well, one of her best friends. She had several. But he was quieter than most, and kept secrets well. Kari treated him almost as an older brother and told him everything. Ken was the only one who called her by her middle name.  
  
With an easy grace, a fluid motion like a cat's, Ken padded up to her and offered a hand. Kari smiled as she took it. Hand-in-hand, they walked to Kari's house, Ken in his raggedy jeans and grey Tshirt, Kari in her fine evening dress. They turned a few heads.  
  
Kari unlocked the door of her family's apartment and invited Ken to come in. He smiled sheepishly and shook his head, preferring to stand and wait for her. Kari slipped out of her high-heels and darted to her room. In a few seconds she emerged, wearing a jean skirt and a white blouse. She had a pair of sandles in her hand. Her long, mouse-brown hair was pulled up in a low ponytail.  
  
Ken smiled at her as she walked out and locked the door again. She hopped into her sandals, took Ken's proffered hand, and the two friends made their way to a favorite spot of their's. Kari studied Ken out of the corner of her eye. His black hair fell neatly to his shoulders, serving as a curtain behind which he often hid when embaressed or shy. He was more sensative to her moods than even her brother, and was silent, occasionally peering at her with soft, questioning eyes of blue.  
  
The two wandered into the park, which was deserted at this hour. Ken gently led her to a willow tree, whose sweeping branches dipped low to the ground and hid from the searching world two kind hearts. Ken pulled some banches back to let Kari enter. She giggled and stepped in. She could feel Ken behind her, ducking under the curtain of leaves and walking to the trunk of the tree. He hoisted himself up on a branch and offered a helping hand to her. She accepted, and they slowly climbed the tree, still silent.  
  
"Oh, boy, I shouldn't have worn a skirt," Kari muttered as they settled on a thick limb several feet above the ground.  
  
"It's no matter," Ken replied softly, voice barely heard.  
  
"Mmm. Hey, you know my quote 'boyfriend,' unquote, Ben?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, I think I'm starting to change my mind about him. He's not the nicest person I've ever met."  
  
"Actually, Rebecca, That's what I thought first time I met him. But I didn't want to offend you."  
  
Kari sighed. "Ken, tell me about your pre-notion things, okay?"  
  
"Yes ma'am."  
  
"Ken. Anyway, for two weeks now, Ben's been asking me to......"  
  
"Kiss you?"  
  
"No. Worse."  
  
"Oh." Ken seemed to get the picture fast. "Kari, baby, you know you can always say no."  
  
"That's the prob, Kennie. He keeps at it, though I've said no every time."  
  
Ken sighed softly, and Kari felt him swing his legs in the air, evidently thinking. She waited quietly, respecting his opinion enough to wait for it. It was the way they did things. He respected her and treated her with gentleness and caring, and she him. That was the way their friendship was, for that was also the way they came to understand eachother so well.  
  
"Well, Becca, the only thing I can think to say is that this is something only you can answer to. And remember what this stands for," Ken whispered after a moment, sounding slightly frustrated for not being able to say more. He reached over, picked up Kari's hand from where it rested on the branch, and ran a finger over the gold purity ring that encircled her left ring finger.  
  
"I know, Kennie. I know. But he's pushing it so hard. I'm scared he might try it by force."  
  
Kari watched as Ken stayed silent. Then he started to hum.  
  
In the passion your heart is abused  
  
He is pushing you, you have to choose  
  
Oh, Rebecca love is never  
  
Easy anymore  
  
Oh, Rebecca so afraid of  
  
Losing what is yours  
  
  
  
Oh, are you giving in to the pressure  
  
Holding you again, now he tells you  
  
What it takes to be in love  
  
He believes you're old enough  
  
But how you gonna feel, oh, tomorrow  
  
When the day reveals  
  
What you believed was for the sake of love  
  
Don't you think you're old enough to know  
  
  
  
You're a breed of few and far between  
  
Holding on to your romantic dream  
  
Oh, Rebecca, love is patient  
  
Love would understand  
  
Oh, Rebecca, your descision  
  
Is your only chance  
  
  
  
Oh, are you giving in to the pressure  
  
Holding you again, now he tells you  
  
What it takes to be in love  
  
He believes you're old enough  
  
But how you gonna feel, oh, tomorrow  
  
When the day reveals  
  
What you believed was for the sake of love  
  
Don't you think you're old enough to know  
  
  
  
Oh, Rebecca don't confuse what love is  
  
With what some say love should be  
  
Should be..........  
  
  
  
  
  
Ken trailed off, the sweet note faded into the silence that settled like a blanket around the two's shoulders. Ken's hand rested still on Kari's. She didn't bother to try to remove it. It felt just right. The friends stayed that way for a while, each lost to the world in their own thoughts, wandering dream-paths never walked by any other mortal.  
  
After a few dark, quiet minutes, Ken turned halfway and studied Kari's profile. Her slender, slightly heart-shaped face held very troubled look, unusual for the almost care-free, loving attitude of the slim brunette. He reached out to her in spirit, and found the warmth. She was not aware of him, yet she was there. She was far, deep within the realms of dream. Ken could feel it. His soul wound the way with hers, hand in hand, just as the two had walked the street earlier. His eyes were half-closed, shadowing the true world. Kari's face remained clear, however. She broke out of her dreams with startling suddeness. It startled him quite a bit. But he seemed to take it in stride.  
  
"Ken, it's time I went home," she whispered.  
  
"Of course." Ken's voice was slightly sad. He helped her down the tree, and escorted her home. He wandered his lonely way home, thoughts filled with the fear and sadness that plagued the girl he loved as dearly as if she had been his sister.  
  
Weeks passed. Taichi Joshua Kamiya, Kari's older brother, called after her as she left the door for a date with that Ben fellow. "Kari, be home by curfew!"  
  
"Yes, mother," she replied, stressing the word so that Tai groaned.  
  
"She calls me mother. So? I'm her older brother. I need to protect her." Tai sighed as he glanced out the window. "If anything were to happen to her, I don't know what I'd do." His voice was softer than usual, deepening, the commanding tone fading out of it, replaced with tenderness and love for his darling baby sister. Though they did have their quibbles, he loved her and wanted to protect such a delicate creature against the world. To him she seemed like a delicate pink rosebud, one that the world's frost threatened to nip and kill. He wanted with all his heart to protect her.  
  
Tai relaxed against the wall for a second. Then something seemed to snap, and he walked almost proudly to the room he shared with Kari. He flopped across the bed and found his C.D player. He quickly slipped on the headphones and turned the music up. It beat feverishly within his soul, throbbing with life even as his heart did.  
  
Tai snapped to full awareness some time later. He turned the music off and stared at the clock. It was three in the morning. The room, however, was still brightly lit. He groaned and clambered up to peer in the top bunk to see what Kari was doing. A neatly-made bed, touched only by the cat, met his eyes. The full shock of what this meant hit him, and panic swirled up.  
  
He jumped off the ladder, landing neatly for once, and scrambled into the living room. No familiar figure was on the couch. Tai leaped for his shoes at the door. Even as he did so, the shrill jangling of the phone broke the stillness. Tai grabbed it before it could wake up his parents. "Hello, Kamiya residence."  
  
"This is the police. We are sorry to inform you that Kari Kamiya has been........"  
  
"What?! Hang on, tell Kari I'll be right there!" Tai hissed. Without waiting for an answer, he hung up as he shoved his foot into the other sneaker, darted back to his room, grabbed a light blanket off his bunk, and darted out the door, doing all this as silently as he could. Using his Digi- vice to pin-point the location, he started down the empty streets at a dead run. Suddenly Ken appeared at his side, a shadow, running with a fleetness, lightness that reminded Tai of a deer.  
  
As Tai burst around a corner, he realized he was at the park. He pushed past a couple of low hanging branches and the blinding lights of a police cruiser met him. Blinking, he trotted forward. "What happened?"  
  
Two policemen tried to stop him. "Hey, I'm Tai! I'm Kari's brother! Lemme through!" Tai demanded.  
  
The police cheif motioned, and they stepped back. Tai, with horror and dread in his heart, stepped forward, almost expecting to find Kari's mangled body laying on the ground. What he saw was perhaps a thousand times worse. He gave a sharp, piercing cry, and fell to his sister's side. He wrapped the blanket around his sobbing sister, crying with her.  
  
"Oh, Kari, oh, baby, I'm sorry. I failed! I didn't protect you! Oh, baby, baby....." Tai trailed off, tears making it hard to speak.  
  
Ken watched the tearful meeting, face drawn and white, as if in pain. He turned to a paramedic, of whom Tai had shoved aside when he saw Kari. "Do you think we could take her home?"  
  
"I don't see why not," the medic answered. "The only thing wrong with her now is those cuts made by what he tied her with, but she'll have some bad emotional scars. She's different now. They all are, after this kind of thing."  
  
Ken was silent for a space. "What did he tie her with?"  
  
"Strips torn from her dress."  
  
"Oh." Ken sighed and turned. Kari's tear-stained face peered at him from the saftey of her brother's arms. She saw his wan face, but the pain in it wasn't his. It was hers, in a way. He caught her looking at him. He moved his hands a fraction of an inch away from his sides, palms spread to her. She pulled from Tai and collasped in Ken's arms, welcoming the warmth of the first hug he had ever given her. His gentle hands tucked the light blanket closer to her, around her slim body clothed in the ragged remains of her dress. A sob shook him, and she felt the warm wetness of his tears slipping down her face.  
  
A week later, Kari was in bed, pretending to sleep. Suddenly she heard Tai come to the door of the room they shared. His voice came. "Quiet now, she's sleeping." Two people came in. Kari peered out from under her eyelashes and nearly gasped in shock. Following Tai like disgraced dog was Ken, slinking like he was trying not to be seen. It was the first time he'd ever been in the Kamiya's apartment.  
  
"Tai, about Kari, well, I wanted to tell you this before I tell her. I love her, Tai. Not just friends, but deeper. You know."  
  
Tai chuckled. "I knew that you had affections for her. Why on earth would you look at her like some forbidden fruit otherwise?"  
  
"Well, I dunno. It's just, um, I feel like she might not like me in the same way. I won't push it if she doesn't," Ken said in his quiet voice. Kari could sense his shyness like a barrier. It was his one downfailing trait.  
  
"I'm not sure of what she thinks about you, but you can try, with my go-ahead," Tai told him.  
  
"Thanks, I guess. It just seemed that you were the one to go to first, after....." Ken trailed off, voice suddenly strained with pain. Kari was slightly shocked. He loved her? What did he mean by that? She knew he treated her as a littler sister but this was a new concept entirely. Why hadn't he ever told her? Oh, he had already said why. He was afraid of offending her, afraid of asking. He was so timid, like a little grey mouse. He was also very kind.  
  
Kari yawned and pretended to have just woken up. She sat up and stared at Ken. "Ken, what are you doing in here?" she asked with as much surprise as she could.  
  
"Tai forced me to come in," Ken answered so softly she could barely hear him.  
  
"Tai," Kari scolded lightly. He smiled at her innocently.  
  
After a few minutes of talk, Tai was sitting at the computer, typing rapidly an Email to his fiancee, Sora Takenouchi. Kari was sitting Indian style on Tai's bunk, and Ken was slightly behind her, brushing her waist length mouse-brown hair. Kari saw that Tai had a small mirror turned so he could keep an eye on the two of them.  
  
Ken brushed her hair with long strokes, lightly pressing so that soon her scalp tingled pleasantly. After he got the tangles out, her hair gleamed like silk. Ken quickly divided it into three sections, and with his long, deft fingers neatly braided her hair into one long braid down her back. Kari was surprised. Where had he learned to braid? He laid a gentle, slender hand on her shoulder. Evidently feeling her tenseness, he laid his other hand on her opposite shoulder and pressed lightly, loosening the muscles there. He started down her back, pressing lightly, yet strongly, fingers working out the knots of tension. Kari felt herself relaxing, leaning into that soft pressure that felt so good. In turn, Ken pressed harder, running warm hands up to her shoulders again, working up there. Kari bowed her head as he went in small circles on her neck, smoothing out the aches and pains.  
  
It felt good, sooooo good to let him do this. To just let go and allow her tension to melt into the warmth of his hands. Kari's sigh sounded loud in the stillness. Ken leaned close and whispered in her ear without stopping. "Feel good, Kari baby?"  
  
Kari moaned in pleasure before answering. "Oh, yes, it does. A little lower, please."  
  
Ken chuckled and withdrew, obediently moving his hands lower down her back. This continued for a few minutes more. Tai glanced over his shoulder and smiled. Yes, Ken certainly loved his sister with a deep love.  
  
The next night, Ken and Kari were back in the willow tree. Kari had told Ken how guilty she felt, and Ken was reasoning with her that it was okay. She was forgiven. God forgave her. Her purity promise could stay unbroken, if she forgot the past. Kari sighed as she turned to Ken. "Ken, yesterday I realized something, something very important."  
  
"What was it, Rebecca?"  
  
"I don't want this to ruin our relationship, but I just have to say this. Kennie, I love you. I mean, really and truely." Kari turned to his eyes, such a deep shade of smoky blue.  
  
"Please, Rebecca, don't let this out. I love you too. But please, could we just go about as friends for a little while longer? Let it be slow and sweet, okay, my girl?" Ken asked, slowly, although he really felt he could kiss her then and there. "Oh, and Kari, I have to say this. No one else knows, but I'm really nineteen, not eighteen."  
  
"What does a year's difference make?" Kari asked, sliding along the branch so she was closer to him. "After all, it's only that." She giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. Ken reached out and found her hand. She thought for a second. T.K or Davis would have instantly wrapped their arms around her waist or something. Ken was shy, it seemed, but she knew why he didn't. They would wait until the perfect time came. But for now, friendship held strongly.  
  
  
  
A sixteen year old child, brown-eyed, black-haired, stood silently under the strong lights. Her raven hair reached for the floor, hanging loose in free glory. Her long, black jean skirt had slits up the sides to make it easier to move. Her feet were clad on soft leather sandals. Her eyes were trained on the floor, waiting. The grey Tshirt hung to her.  
  
Suddenly her head snapped up. She waved a hand, and her friends started it up. The keyboards, the drums, and her turn. She started up her part on the blue-black electric guitar. Her clear voice, an even, sincere, beautiful alto, soaring up into soprano at times, started the song.  
  
Oooooooooh, oh, whoa, whoa  
  
Why, why, tell me do you wonder why  
  
Some can look so hard and miss the truth, yeah, yeah  
  
Some will stumble over it a hundred times  
  
And never ever see the living proof  
  
  
  
Well there's a kind of love the world could never deny  
  
Let everybody see it in our lives  
  
The world will wonder why  
  
If you and I will shine His light  
  
And hearts discover life when we decide  
  
To let ours go  
  
We've got to give it up  
  
And live the love  
  
That opened our eyes  
  
Live your life  
  
The world will wonder why  
  
  
  
Why, why, someone try and tell me why  
  
We would want it any other way  
  
A heart could change before our very eyes  
  
Well, I've seen the difference that love can make  
  
  
  
Where is the kind of love this world could never explain  
  
It's time to live the gospel unashamed  
  
The world will wonder why  
  
If you and I will shine His light  
  
And hearts discover life when we decide  
  
To let ours go  
  
We've got to give it up  
  
And live the love  
  
That opened our eyes  
  
Live your life  
  
The world will wonder why  
  
Oh, yes they will  
  
  
  
If we were living with a passion  
  
What would be the reaction  
  
I know a single heart can change the world  
  
If we were loving with a strong love  
  
Then their eyes would see  
  
And the world might believe  
  
  
  
The world will wonder why  
  
If you and I will shine His light  
  
And hearts discover life when we decide  
  
To let ours go  
  
We've got to give it up  
  
And live the love  
  
That opened our eyes  
  
Live your life  
  
The world will wonder why  
  
The world will wonder why  
  
If you and I will shine His light  
  
And hearts discover life when we decide  
  
To let ours go  
  
We've got to give it up  
  
And live the love  
  
That opened our eyes  
  
Live your life  
  
The world will wonder why......  
  
Ooooooooh, oh, whoa, whoa  
  
  
  
  
  
She struck the last chords on her guitar and flung her head up, black hair swinging around elfin face. The crowd went wild. She turned and smiled at her older brother, who worked the keyboards, and her younger sister, who was at the drums. Her twin brother gave her a thumbs up and patted his own guitar. Yes, the sibling band Kindness Light was on the way to fame.  
  
The Ichijiouji children were all very talented in the musical area. Henry, the oldest at eighteen, played the keyboards, and looked just like his mother. The twins, Andrea and Hitoshi, both played guitar and were sixteen. They were dark-haired and brown-eyed. The second to youngest child was Celeste, and she was a fair child, blonde of hair and blue of eye. She was called Elf for her looks, and was thirteen. The youngest was a little girl, ten years old. Her name was Rebecka, and her hair was raven black, her eyes bright blue.  
  
Right now, Rebecka was in the crowd, between her mom and dad. Kari and Ken. Together forever. They cheered for their children, the ones who would carry on this legacy, the legacy made for the sake of love. The sake of true love. 


End file.
